whitepaper-retention-and-student-success

A sharpened focus on retention, persistence, and graduation has colleges and universities looking for more effective ways to support student success.. Whether we measure that success by

Retention and student success:

Implementing strategies that make a difference

Chrissy Coley, PhD △ Tim Coley, PhD △ Katie Lynch-Holmes, MS

Introduction 3

A more diligent approach to student success 5

From theory to execution 6

Redefining “early” 7

Conclusion 17

Student success advisory services 17

About Ellucian 17

A sharpened focus on retention, persistence, and graduation has colleges and universities looking for more effective ways

to support student success But even for institutions with a

transparent focus on persistence, putting effective programs

in place is difficult Chrissy Coley, Tim Coley, and Katie Lynch-Holmes, senior consultants with Ellucian, describe what

institutions can do today to design, develop, and launch

retention and student success programs that work

You’ve probably heard the old adage—in fact,

you might have heard it from a professor of yours

when you were a first-year student in college:

“Look to your left Look to your right Next year

one of you will not be sitting here.” There was

a time when an institution’s prestige was tied

to its ability to weed out students—when our

attitude about student success was simply sink

or swim Thanks to the work of such scholars

as John Gardner and George Kuh, colleges and

universities began to develop a new perspective

on student success Whether we measure that

success by persistence to graduation, transfer

success, time to degree, or improved learning

outcomes, we know that we bear responsibility

for providing students with the support they

need to achieve their goals

But what kind of support? In the past few decades, we’ve seen a virtual cottage industry of retention initiatives spring up on our campuses— writing centers, remedial curricula, academic resource centers, outreach and engagement programs—the list is a varied and creative one Yet, in spite of the attention paid to retaining students, we have made very little progress on

a national scale For instance, in its 2013 Digest

of Education Statistics, the National Center for Education Statistics noted that nationally, slightly over 1.5 million first-time, full-time,

degree-seeking students began their undergraduate careers at four-year colleges and universities in the fall of 2006 However, only four in ten (39 percent) actually achieved their goal of earning

a bachelor’s degree within four years, and six

in ten (59.2 percent) completed their degrees within six years Degree and certificate completion

at two-year colleges is even more sobering Of

the 857,607 first-time students who enrolled

at two-year public institutions in fall 2007, only

26.5 percent completed degrees or certificates

from their starting institution within six years,

according to the National Student Clearinghouse

ACT trend data confirm that four-year and

two-year graduation rates over the last 30 two-years have

remained relatively flat; thus, as a nation we have

failed to move the needle in the right direction

Clearly, our efforts to support students to

graduation can be improved As policy makers

continue to shift their focus from access—as

important as that has been to the equitable

delivery of education services—to completion,

the failure of these efforts is likely to come

under increasing scrutiny Consider the

policy-makers’ perspective:

● According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,

students who graduate with a two- or four-year

degree in hand can expect to earn up to 70

percent more than those who complete only a

high school diploma

● Our economic recovery depends in large part

on how well we succeed at delivering education and retraining

● Building human capital to drive innovation is critical to sustaining our global standing

Federal programs, such as the Obama administration’s American Graduation Initiative and the U.S Department of Education’s plan

to tie financial aid to college performance and published college ratings, sharpen the focus

on retention, persistence, and graduation

As that focus sharpens, and the demand for accountability continues to grow, student success will become a critical factor that will affect

funding, reputations, and rankings

A more diligent approach to student success

When major news outlets are highlighting student

retention, you can be sure the topic has people’s

attention A unique combination of factors is at

play in our renewed attention to student success

Today, accrediting agencies are demanding higher

levels of accountability around outcomes, as are

policy makers and citizens concerned over the

value that education delivers These demands

have spurred movements like the Voluntary

System of Accountability (VSA), the Voluntary

Framework of Accountability (VFA), and the

University and College Accountability Network

(U-CAN) Professional organizations are also

challenging member institutions to move from

emphasizing access to emphasizing success For

instance, the American Association of Community

Colleges’ 21st-Century Commission on the Future

of Community Colleges has challenged

two-year institutions to close achievement gaps and

increase the percentage of students successfully

completing developmental education programs

Additionally, states are increasingly moving to

higher education funding formulas that allocate

some amount of funding based on performance

indicators such as course completion,

time-to-degree, or transfer rates In some states,

funding also is tied to the number of degrees

awarded to low-income and minority student

graduates According to the National Conference

of State Legislatures, 25 states currently have a

performance-based formula in place, including

Ohio and Tennessee Other states across the

country are watching the results carefully

But increased scrutiny around outcomes isn’t the only reason we are paying closer attention

to student success High school graduation rates and population demographics across the country are shifting rapidly According to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), some parts of the country, particularly the Northeast and Midwest, will experience declines in the number of high school graduates over the next decade, making student success and retention a clear priority Many Southeast and Western states will see significant growth in the number of high school graduates, particularly first-generation and under-represented college students who may require additional academic, financial, and social supports to persist to degree completion These demographic changes bring with them a new reality Institutions will have

to work harder to retain the students they have traditionally enrolled, as well as deliver new kinds

of support to new groups of students Finding better ways to retain and progress students, then,

is something we owe to everyone seeking an education from our institutions

So how do you bridge the gap between theory

and execution? ACT’s 2010 report, “What Works

in Student Retention” found that:

● While approximately 60 percent of two-year

colleges and 70 percent of four-year institutions

have identified an individual responsible for

coordinating retention strategies, there is still

opportunity for significant improvement

● Only 32 percent of two-year colleges, 54

percent of four-year privates, and 66 percent

of four-year publics have established an

improvement goal for retention of students

from the first to second year

● Only 23 percent of two-year colleges, 36

percent of four-year privates, and 53 percent

of four-year publics have established a goal for

improved degree completion

In their follow-up 2010 AIR Forum paper,

“Retention: Diverse Institutions = Diverse

Retention Practices,” the report’s authors

conclude that “while many known retention

practices are in use today, their use is far from universal across institutions.” In his foreword to the 2014 publication What Excellent Community Colleges Do, Anthony P Carnevale observes that despite the attention being paid to student success, “the fundamental structures of community colleges have not evolved to make student success the core business.” The literature indicates the same can be said for four-year institutions as well

Even at those institutions with a transparent focus

on persistence, we find that “moving the needle”

is still difficult A 2009 Ellucian survey indicated a perception by academic administrators that most at-risk students don’t take advantage of available support services even when they are aware of them We also know that even when institutions are able to identify at-risk students, resources for delivering appropriate interventions are limited And when the institution has no systematic way

to identify at-risk students early enough to make

a real impact on persistence, those problems are only compounded

From theory to execution

But the news is not all bad The Education Trust

confirms that some colleges and universities

are doing better than others when it comes to

defining and supporting student success, even

when holding constant institutional and student

characteristics For instance, some small private

colleges have realized retention rates of around

95 percent for first-time, full-time students, and

larger, public institutions that provide supportive

initiatives for students, have achieved retention

rates around 90 percent While two-year technical

and community colleges serve a wider variety of

students, the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence

Program has identified institutions that have demonstrated exceptional levels of success; for instance, several Aspen Prize finalists graduated 35–40 percent of their fall 2007 first-time, full-time student cohorts, several percentage points higher than the national average

What sets these institutions apart? We think,

in part, they have been able to find ways to bridge the gap between theory and execution

by clearly defining the factors contributing to better retention and graduation and by engaging faculty, administrators, and students alike in

a shared goal While the programs they have

created to support student success vary, these

institutions have made a visible, and indeed

measurable, commitment to student success

This commitment represents the changing climate

in how higher education views student success Today, a substantial body of research demonstrates that what colleges and universities do about

student success matters And, increasingly, administrators and faculty understand that doing something early matters even more

Redefining “early”

Traditionally, colleges and universities have used

final course grades to signal academic success

But we know that even by midterm, time is

already running out for meaningful interventions

Today, we have better data about the factors that

contribute to student success or student failure

And we are using that data to develop early

intervention programs that can help get students

back on track early

In order to succeed, students need to be

supported both academically and socially And

we have made progress in both areas We know

that early academic achievement is a predictor of

future success With that in mind, we have created

first-year seminars, developed writing centers,

established academic support centers, and

experimented with peer tutoring We also know

that students who engage fully in the life of the

institution thrive So we have established learning

communities, improved advising, and established

bridge programs that recognize the critical

importance of a student’s first year

We have also gotten better at identifying the

students who would benefit the most from these

programs We know how to look for red flags:

absenteeism, weak writing and math skills, poor

grades, behavioral changes We know what social constraints our students will find most challenging: finding peers, struggling economically, juggling family responsibilities Predictive modeling can draw on pre-enrollment data to help us identify at-risk candidates even before they arrive on campus And we are putting tools in place to monitor students more consistently and to respond more quickly to what we see and hear Has a student already missed classes in her first two weeks or performed inadequately on a test or quiz? Has she reported feeling overwhelmed to her academic advisor? Has she failed to engage in your learning management system (LMS) as early or often as you would have expected? By anticipating the needs of our students, we can reach out with appropriate resources—perhaps a study group, or

a peer support program—rather than expecting our students, who may not know that such support even exists, to stumble into it on their own

Research calling for a comprehensive and strategic approach to student success, persistence, and completion is ubiquitous How, then, can we use this scholarship as a foundation to design, develop, and implement retention strategies that make a measurable difference in recognizing and fostering the potential of all students?

1: Establish a shared vision of student success

We all want our students to succeed And while

discrete departments across the institution

can have a real influence on student success,

designing and implementing a comprehensive

institutional strategy means moving beyond

the “hunches” many of your stakeholders have

about what drives it Establishing a shared

vision of student success and communicating

that vision across your campus means you can

more effectively align resources to support

defined goals

Moving from theory to action will mean asking

some very specific questions:

● What are our priorities? Do we need to improve

overall retention and graduation rates for all

students? Do we need to focus on a particular student cohort or academic program?

● How do we define “at risk”? What criteria will we use to assess who is at risk and who isn’t? Missed classes? Poor test results? Lack of LMS activity?

● What defines student success? How will we know if our efforts have been successful?

● Do our institutional leaders (president, provost, vice presidents, deans) communicate their vision for student persistence to degree completion to campus constituents, lay out expectations for supporting student learning and success, and allocate resources to ensure goals are achieved?

Delta State University

While Delta State University’s Student Success Center had been

operating for two years, it needed a more systemic approach to

retention “Ten months ago, no one [person] was really responsible

for student retention,” says Charles A McAdams, provost and vice

president for Academic Affairs at Delta State University “If it was

one person’s job, no one else jumped in If it was everyone’s job,

it was no one’s job.” In January 2014, with the active support of

President William LaForge, provost McAdams established a

cross-campus Student Success task force made up of four committees:

academic advising, early alert, first-year seminar, and institutional

data analysis Under the task force, faculty, staff, and student

representatives aligned their efforts to these committees’ initiatives

After creating an operational definition and implementation plan,

the student retention efforts could expand campus-wide To further

momentum, McAdams met with every department on campus to

discuss his vision of academic affairs and share his commitment

to helping students succeed Now, student success efforts engage

the academic council, the dean council, and cabinet members as

well as freshmen orientation and enrollment groups “We discussed

opportunities, defined context and challenges—both locally and

nationally—and set up action plans,” says McAdams “I built support

one department at a time Our success is tied to our students’

success—it’s the right thing to do for our students and it helps

secure a strong financial future for Delta State University.”

Ocean County College

Establishing a shared vision of student success has to start with an institution’s top leadership and spread through the entire campus

to every employee New Jersey’s Ocean County College puts students first, and president Dr Jon Larson leads by example He responds directly to every student email to ensure that all students’ questions are answered quickly The same responsiveness and caring is displayed across campus For example, just one week after launching a volunteer mentoring initiative for students, more than 50 faculty and staff volunteered to serve as mentors for students Even more inspiring is the fact that many of them were already doing it informally The college has established policies and procedures to make sure its vision for student success is permeated through the campus “Ocean County College promotes

a student-centered culture,” says Dr Jianping Wang, vice president

of Academic Affairs at Ocean County College “There is an expectation that everyone is expected to embrace this culture and

do all they can to support student success.” It starts with hiring Decisions on hiring full-time faculty and bringing adjunct back, promotions for both full- and part-time faculty, and sabbatical awards are all contingent on meeting certain student success criteria Exemplary staff members and teaching faculty excellence awards are bestowed upon those who contribute to student success and are actively involved in campus life

2: Focus on what successful students do

Many students come to college with little

understanding of what it takes to succeed; they

make an assumption that class attendance is

optional, or that the level of effort that got them

through high school will be sufficient for college

work First-generation and low-income students

in particular may lack the cultural capital to

know how to navigate complex campus systems

Other students are unfamiliar with the services

available to them, whether that is your library’s

reference desk, your writing center, study groups,

tutors, or supplemental instruction And often,

students enrolling in a full-time course of study

have to learn, or relearn, what it takes to manage

finances, time, and family obligations

If you want your students to emulate successful

behavior, your institution needs to be asking

these questions:

● Do our students know what GPA they need

to earn and the courses they need to take to

maintain academic good standing, to pursue

a major program of study, and to maintain

scholarships and financial aid?

● Do our students know what resources are

available on campus?

● How can the campus use convocation,

orientation, and the first-year seminar to

articulate expectations?

● What opportunities exist to engage students in

educationally purposeful activities both in and

out of the classroom?

Mercy College

With four campus locations in the New York City metropolitan area, Mercy College enrolls many first-generation, low-income students In fall of 2012, 71 percent

of its first-time freshmen were Pell Grant recipients

“Our student population is at the heart of the national conversation,” says Andy Person, executive director of Student Success and Engagement at Mercy College “So

we had to address the needs of this particular population, help them stay in school and graduate so they could get into the job pool.” Mercy’s Personalized Achievement Contract (PACT) program, established in spring 2009, is geared to help students learn how to navigate a complex college environment, both in and out of the classroom It’s an intrusive process, it’s proactive, it starts at pre-enrollment and continues through graduation And it’s working Since its inception, first-time, full-time students’ fall-to-fall retention rates have increased by 15 percent and graduation rates have increased by 26 percent At Mercy, PACT mentors are cross-trained in academic advising, financial aid, student support services, and actively engaged from pre-enrollment through every step of the campus experience They help identify what successful students do differently and give each student one-on-one attention to make sure they do it: take 15 credits each semester, take the right types of courses, focus on life after college, respond quickly to issues, and take initiative to use campus resources

University of South Carolina

“Successful students use all the resources available, they get involved in research, they participate in extracurricular activities, they are engaged with faculty,” says Eric Moschella, director of the Student Success Center at the University of South Carolina “Basically,

it all comes down to engagement Our Honors College students have tremendous opportunities and they take advantage of everything we have to offer They are very well guided and advised and we push them as hard as they push themselves There is a great sense

of community.” Those same students are also leaders

To foster similar levels of engagement throughout the campus, the University of South Carolina has emphasized the concept of student leadership development as part of its Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) for its Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) accreditation “We encourage peer leadership,” says Claire Robinson, associate director of the Student Success Center at the University of South Carolina

“For example students take on leadership roles and demonstrate leadership qualities on and off campus.” Often, encouraging a student to take that step may require multiple touches, but it all pays off

3: Determine an intervention strategy

In our experience, schools that create successful

campus-wide retention programs have determined

a clear methodology to define and identify

“at-risk” students, to reach out to students with

appropriate resources and support, and to track

and monitor student engagement Intervention

strategies often involve faculty and staff who may

be involved in formal referral programs or who

may help deliver appropriate resources

Early intervention is key to helping students before problems become too overwhelming to handle For many students, knowing that someone

in the institution cares about how they are performing is a powerful motivator And helping students establish a solid academic and social foundation for future success is, or should be, an integral part of an institution’s core mission

Delta State University

At Delta State University, helping students succeed is everyone’s

priority For this reason, the university’s early alert initiative

empowers all campus members to act on a student’s behalf

“We’ve given every member on campus (including parents and

students) the tools to identify at-risk behaviors and send alerts,”

says provost Charles A McAdams “You can’t connect the dots

if you don’t have a dot to start with.” The university’s Stay Okra

Strong (SOS) campus-wide early alert and intervention process

“makes it easy—you click the SOS button and then it walks you

through the steps you need to take to get the student the help

they need,” says Christy Riddle, executive director of the Student

Success Center at Delta State University A significant emphasis

is placed on training faculty, frontline staff (such as departmental

administrative assistants), residence hall directors, and other

staff who serve as a first line of defense in responding to student

questions and concerns Workshops and the SOS website explain

not only how to use the technology, but also how to recognize

signs that a student is struggling and take appropriate action

Once the SOS alert is sent, a member of the Student Success

Center team reaches out to the student to determine if the

student alert is behavioral or academic in nature and begins the

identified intervention process “We’ve [also] implemented

follow-up steps so the coordinator that spoke with the student can follow

up with whomever sent the referral and let them know what is

happening and what is being done,” says Riddle

Ocean County College

In the spring of 2014, Ocean County College reached out to

three Toms River high schools and identified 58 students who

were economically and academically unprepared for college The

college partnered with the high schools and provided special

college success programs and support services After less than

three months of intervention, 28 of those students were

college-ready and took college-level English and math at Ocean County

College during the summer What is most remarkable is that just

a few months before, many of them didn’t even see themselves

as college material “We have to teach students not only how to

be successful, but also to believe in their ability to be successful,” says Dr Wang Because of the program’s success, Ocean County College is now looking at replicating the model at other local high schools, and the Ocean County College Foundation has just pledged its financial support for this initiative.

University of South Carolina

The comprehensive Student Success Center at the University of South Carolina includes Academic Coaching and Engagement (ACE) coaching, tutoring, transfer student support services, academic recovery programs, cross-college advising, supplemental instruction, financial literacy programs, and early intervention initiatives “We do everything we can to support students in and out of the classroom,” says Moschella “The services we offer are all designed to help students navigate fairly common traditional challenges, and we try to offer them while the student is experiencing the stumbling block.” Because the Student Success Center relies on referrals from faculty and staff,

it launched its new Success Connect initiative in 2013 as a way

to formalize referrals both in and out of the center by partnering with academic advisors, Greek advisors, residence life advisors, and other departments across campus “Now, a cross-college advisor can log into the system and schedule an advisee’s meeting with a tutor,” says Robinson “These are active, intentional referrals that help students get immediate attention.” Early referrals are

so critical that the Student Success Center reached out to the supplemental instruction faculty members who teach high D, F, or withdraw (DFW) rate courses and asked them for referrals They found that faculty could often predict those students who were going to struggle within the first three weeks of the semester It’s making a significant difference: Students who went to the Student Success Center for help had a three percent attrition rate from fall

2012 to spring 2013, while students who did not take advantage of early intervention had a seven percent attrition rate.